Seawatch
2002-2003
Sep-Aug

12/12 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport COMMON Murres
From: Richard Heil
Weather: Overcast, 35 F ; A.M.: NE 20-35 mph, rain; P.M.: NNW 10-25, mist. A major and totally unprecedented incursion of Common Murres into Massachusetts coastal waters is underway and highlighted another six alcid day that also included a smattering of Dovekies. The Pomarine Jaeger total represents a new MA December high count.
Red-throated Loon (57) Common Loon (28) Red-necked Grebe (33) GREATER SHEARWATER (3): Second latest date here. Northern Gannet (440) Great Cormorant (13) Canada Goose (14) Am. Black Duck (8) Greater Scaup (1) Common Eider (355) Harlequin Duck (12+): residents. Surf Scoter (72) White-winged Scoter (65) Black Scoter (13) Oldsquaw (98) Common Goldeneye (5) Red-breasted Merganser (15) Purple Sandpiper (25) Pomarine Jaeger (24): More than double the previous MA high for December. Bonaparte’s Gull (230) Iceland Gull (3-1W) Black-legged Kittiwake (850): Est. 95% adults. Dovekie (21) COMMON MURRE (420): Many were noted in mixed flocks with Razorbills but also quite a few solid flocks of 5-25 of this species were observed, mostly after 1100 hrs. In the morning during a heavy movement of alcids, because of rain and resultant poor visibility, most flocks had to be left just as “large alcid species.“ If the composition of these morning flocks could be known there may have been more than a thousand Common Murres that passed the point today (!!!) Normally considered rare in local coastal waters and nearshore banks, there has never previously been a “flight” of any magnitude of this species in Massachusetts, and the previous high, from Provincetown last February, is of twenty-one. Thick-billed Murre (14) Razorbill (1180) large alcid sp. (1800+) Black Guillemot (17) Atlantic Puffin (1)

12/12 - Corporation Beach Dennis
From Pete Flood
I managed to get to Corporation beach this morning at daybreak and had a pretty good push of seabirds (particularly alcids and Bonaparte's gulls) for an hour and a half or so. However, nothing like what Rick is seeing in Rockport which is just amazing. All of the alcids which passed in close range were razorbills. Although, many, many, flocks were passing at a distance which (with poor visibility) I could only figure as large alcids. Winds were NNE-N 15-25 mph. From (0630-0845):
Red-throated Loon (320) Common Loon (12) Red-necked Grebe (1) Northern Gannet (450) Great Cormorant (1) American Black Duck (10) Common Eider (235) Oldsquaw (35) Black Scoter (4) Surf Scoter (26) White-winged Scoter (18) Common Goldeneye (4) Red-breasted Merganser (70) Sanderlings (60) Dunlin (4) Bonaparte's Gull (280+) Black-legged Kittiwake (260) Razorbill (650) Large Alcid sp. (800+) Birds were still passing although at much reduced rate when I had to unfortunately leave for work. Sounds like a hike out to Race Point tomorrow may prove interesting. Peter Flood

12/11 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport Seawatch
From: Richard Heil
Weather: Overcast, E 5-25 mph, 36 F, no precipitation. A remarkable day for alcids, recording all six Atlantic species including a MA record total for Common Murre, and a new December high for Pomarine Jaeger at Andrew‘s, following the very strong November showing. Lots of feeding activity on the part of the Bonaparte’s and kittiwakes.
Red-throated Loon (12) Common Loon (8) Red-necked Grebe (10) Northern Gannet (310) Great Cormorant (9) Canada Goose (12) Am. Black Duck (5) Common Eider (465) Harlequin Duck (10+) Surf Scoter (11) White-winged Scoter (23) Black Scoter (18) Oldsquaw (5) Red-breasted Merganser (9) Purple Sandpiper (16) Dunlin (11) Pomarine Jaeger (10): New December high; Including one adult still with “spoon tail” and one dark morph; Several pursued kittiwakes and Bonaparte’s Gulls in close for a time. Bonaparte’s Gull (200+): Est. 90% adults. Ring-billed Gull (5+) Herring Gull (1000+) Iceland Gull (4-1W) Glaucous Gull (1-1W) Great Black-backed Gull (220+) Black-legged Kittiwake (700): Est. 95% adults. Dovekie (1) Common Murre (27): All seen flying past, singly or as many as three together, often mixed in with Razorbill flocks. Thick-billed Murre (3) Razorbill (920) Black Guillemot (5) Atlantic Puffin (3)

11/17 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport
From: Richard Heil
(0630-1420 hrs.) Weather: Overcast, rain, NE becoming NNE in PM, 25-50 mph, 37-45 F; seas 8-18’ Red-throated Loon (840): Total nearly 4000 this weekend. Common Loon (280): Second highest count. Red-necked Grebe (3) Northern Fulmar (22): 20 light, 2 dark. Greater Shearwater (435) Sooty Shearwater (1): Latest record. Leach’s Storm-Petrel (1): Latest record. Northern Gannet (2100) Great Cormorant (10) Greater Scaup (175): New high. King Eider (2; 1ad.m, 1-1st W m.): migrating w/scoters. Common Eider (1130) Harlequin Duck (15+) Surf Scoter (3800+) White-winged Scoter (1050) Black Scoter (550+) dark scoter sp. (650+) Oldsquaw (3250): Second highest count. Common Goldeneye (1) Red-breasted Merganser (860) SKUA sp. (1): Passed by just beyond the rocks. Normally I might have assumed this to be a Great Skua at this date, but given the recent proven occurrence of the southern hemisphere ‘Brown Skua’ (C. antarctica) in the North Atlantic, such assumptions are no longer safe, if they ever were! Pomarine Jaeger (107): Including several flocks of 5-8 individuals. New high count. Bonaparte’s Gull (20) Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake (1600) Thick-billed Murre (11) Razorbill (180) large alcid sp. (170) Black Guillemot (11)

11/16 Provincetown
From: Blair Nikula
There was a rather small but steady movement of seabirds past Race Point in Provincetown today. However, the highlight was yet another indescribable mass of gannets at Herring Cove Beach. I'm running out of superlatives to describe the shows I've seen of this species this fall, so I will simply say that I have seen many, many gannet spectacles over the years, and have been to the breeding colony at Bonaventure Island, but nothing surpasses what Peter Flood and I witnessed today. I have posted some digital images in a feeble attempt to illustrate what we experienced, but it was one of those occasions that cannot be captured with film or words: http://home.attbi.com/~odenews/GannetsPtown.htm At Race Point, from 0800 - 1200 & 1400 - 1530 (5.5 hours total; almost all birds were flying west to east): 112 Red-throated Loons (virtually all flying east to west) 200 Greater Shearwaters 70 large shearwater sp. (probably all Greaters) 1 Sooty Shearwater 850 N. Gannets 2 Pomarine Jaegers 4 jaeger sp. 495 Black-legged Kittiwakes (about 90% adult) 135 Razorbills 180 large alcid sp. At Herring Cove Beach (1215 - 1345 hrs.): 12 Greater Shearwaters 20,000+ N. Gannets 1500 Red-breasted Mergansers 1 jaeger sp. 6+ Laughing Gulls 2000+ Great Black-backed Gulls 800+ Herring Gulls (one darker mantled bird that otherwise looked like a HEGU) 20 Black-legged Kittiwakes

11/16 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport seawatch
From: Richard Heil
(0640-1520 hrs.) ANDREW’S POINT, ROCKPORT Seawatch Weather: Overcast, NE 15-30 mph, mostly dry but occasional lt. rain, 36 F. The highlight was a tremendous afternoon flight of Red-throated Loons of the greatest intensity and magnitude that I have ever witnessed. Of the total, about 2800 flew past during just a two hour period between 1:00 and 3:00 PM, including single flocks comprised of 230, 320, and 345 birds each. Red-throated Loon (3060): My previous high was of 1350 on 11/22/97. Common Loon (186) Red-necked Grebe (12) Greater Shearwater (175) Northern Gannet (3200): Estimated 90% adults. Great Cormorant (26) Double-crested Cormorant (1-1W) Green-winged Teal (1) Greater Scaup (7) Common Eider (1210) Harlequin Duck (18) Surf Scoter (1195) White-winged Scoter (1280) Black Scoter (750) Oldsquaw (1780) Common Goldeneye (7) Red-breasted Merganser (65) Purple Sandpiper (5) Pomarine Jaeger (29) Little Gull (2-1W) Bonaparte’s Gull (235): Estimated 80% adults. Ring-billed Gull (10) Herring Gull Iceland Gull (1-1W) Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake (1320): Estimated 80% adults. Common Murre (2) Thick-billed Murre (12) Razorbill (146) large alcid sp. (19) Black Guillemot (6)

11/13 - Corporation Beach
From: Blair Nikula
I enjoyed a nice, albeit much too brief, pre-work seabird show at Corporation Beach in Dennis early this morning. The nice thing about Corporation Beach is that the majority of birds pass by at very close range - binocular range, in fact; I hardly used my telescope at all this morning.
From 0630 - 0745: 430 Red-throated Loons 6 Common Loons 4000 N. Gannets (84% ad., 15% sub-ad., 2% juv.; based upon a sample of almost 300 birds.) 1 Purple Sandpiper (a rare bird east of the Cape Cod canal) 15 Laughing Gulls 920 Bonaparte's Gulls (one of the best flights I've ever seen of this species on the Cape.) 160 B.-L. Kittiwakes 1 Forster's Tern 3 Razorbills 4 alcid sp.

11/13 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport
Report from Richard Heil
(0715-1115 hrs.)Weather: Overcast, N wind 15-25 mph, rain, 44 F.
Red-throated Loon (59) Common Loon (65) Red-necked Grebe (9) Greater Shearwater (220) Northern Gannet (500): 90%+ ads. Great Cormorant (15) Greater Scaup (1) Common Eider (1430) Harlequin Duck (1) Surf Scoter (310) White-winged Scoter (22) Black Scoter (58) Oldsquaw (570) Red-breasted Merganser (14) Purple Sandpiper (3) Pomarine Jaeger (12) Little Gull (2; 1ad, 1-2W) Bonaparte’s Gull (415) Black-legged Kittiwake (235): 90%+ads. Thick-billed Murre (4) Razorbill (147) large alcid sp. (20) Black Guillemot (7) Atlantic Puffin (1)

11/6 - Andrew's Pt. Seawatch
Report from: Richard Heil
(0615-1610 hrs.) ANDREW’S POINT, ROCKPORT Seawatch Weather: Overcast, rain, ESE 15-25 mph turning E 15-30 at 0800, then NE 20-40+ after 1100 hrs., 46 F; seas 8-15+ feet. Although a few gannets and alcids showed in the morning during very moderate ESE winds, I was afraid not much more was going to happen today. I had not seen a single tubenose, no jaegers, and only a handful of kittiwakes until 10:30 or 11:00 when the wind quickly turned to the NE and increased markedly. It was like turning on a faucet. Red-throated Loon (143) Common Loon (25) Red-necked Grebe (1) Northern Fulmar (160): Including 8 dark morph=5%. Greater Shearwater (4030) Sooty Shearwater (3) Manx Shearwater (2) Leach’s Storm-Petrel (1) Northern Gannet (5650): Estimated 90% ads. Great Cormorant (11) Double-crested Cormorant (4) Green-winged Teal (1) Greater Scaup (40) Common Eider (520) Harlequin Duck (16): winter residents, not moving. Surf Scoter (66) White-winged Scoter (34) Black Scoter (22) Oldsquaw (62) Red-breasted Merganser (53) Purple Sandpiper (17) Pomarine Jaeger (77): New high count. Laughing Gull (3 ads.) Bonaparte’s Gull (36) Ring-billed Gull (8+) Herring Gull (7) Great Black-backed Gull (35) Black-legged Kittiwake (1675): Estimated 20% were 1W. Common Tern (1) Common Murre (1) Thick-billed Murre (4) Razorbill (243): New November high. large alcid sp. (25+) Black Guillemot (7) Atlantic Puffin (4) Rick Heil

11/6 Race Point, Provincetown
Report from Peter Flood
I spent the bulk of the day (0620-1445) at Race Point scopin' seabirds. Winds were east/southeast 10-15 mph. early and perhaps hit 25-30 mph. by late morning. Around 12:30 the winds had slackened substancially and by 14:00 were beginning to blow from the north/northwest. Nothing really to light the hotline up with, but, I will share just the same. Here is what I had: Red-throated Loon (27) Common Loon (17) Greater Shearwater (97) Large shearwater sp. (38) Leach's Storm-Petrel (2) Northern Gannet (2200+) Double-crested Cormorant (3) Green-winged Teal (6) American Black Duck (15) Common Eider (115) Oldsquaw (4) Surf Scoter (86) White-winged Scoter (11) Red-breasted Merganser (320) Pomarine Jaeger (3) one very dark individual Jaeger sp. (2) If I had to call these two, I would have said Parasitic Laughing Gull (1) Bonaparte's Gull (1) Black-legged Kittiwake (150) Razorbill (11) Large Alcid sp. (38)

10/27 First Encounter
From: Blair Nikula
Although this last storm was a rather modest blow, it produced an amazing show at First Encounter Beach in Eastham this morning. Nothing rare, but a mind-numbing mass of gannets and kittiwakes along with a good assortment of other things (and nary a grain of wind-blown sand in my coffee!). When you pull into the F.E. parking lot before sunrise and the gannets and kittiwakes are already streaming by, you know you're in for a treat. In the 30 or so years I've been chasing seabirds at First Encounter, I think this morning's show would rate in the top 10, and for sheer spectacle may have been in the top five (especially considering the relatively pleasant weather conditions). There were times when I simply had to put my scope and binoculars down and try to take in the scene before me - optics were hardly necessary to appreciate the magnitude of the event. Several times I reached for my camera, but this was an experience that neither film nor words could come close to capturing. Gannets were simply everywhere, from nearly opaque clouds on the horizon, to streams passing right up the shoreline - seemingly close enough to touch at times, to flocks passing hundreds of feet high over the parking lot (across the face of the moon!), with some even heading off high to the southeast, apparently crossing the Cape (something I've almost never seen before). Blizzards of kittiwakes, in flocks numbering into the hundreds, passed during the first couple of hours, some attended by small groups of Pomarine Jaegers. There were so many birds that I'm sure lots of things slipped by. Other than Eddie Banks' company for a couple of hours mid-morning, I was alone - and rarely have felt so overwhelmed. God only knows what I missed. The following numbers represent my best effort to keep up with things, though in reality are but a feeble attempt to quantify the unquantifiable. But for what it's worth, here's what I came up with (from 0550 - 1120 hrs.): 16 Red-throated Loons 1 (only) N. Fulmar (there may well have been others among the clouds of birds in the distance, but with so many birds in close, I pretty much ignored the "headache" birds on the horizon) 3 Cory's Shearwaters (all passed right up the beach) 400 Greater Shearwaters (a few flying over the flats at low tide!) 1 Sooty Shearwater 600+ large shearwater sp. 1+ Wilson's Storm-Petrel (very late, but looked and acted like a perfectly typical Wilson's in all discernible respects) 7 Leach's Storm-Petrels 9 storm-petrel sp. 20,000+ N. Gannets (this number is based upon a few one-minute counts and I think is conservative; even heard some calling as they passed high overhead. They were still passing at a rate of 20+/minute when I left.) 7 scaup sp. 4000+ Common Eider 100's scoters (almost all Surf & Black) 600+ Red-breasted Mergansers 1 Red Phalarope 60 Pomarine Jaegers 22 jaeger sp. 220 Laughing Gulls 1 Little Gull (1W) 15 Bonaparte's Gulls 3600+ Black-legged Kittiwakes (85+% adult; one badly oiled on the underparts.) 40 Common Terns 2 Razorbills 2 At. Puffins Why this modest tempest produced so many birds, I haven't a clue, except that it's prime time for some of these species. I was hoping for a decent show this morning, but certainly didn't expect what transpired. It's one I'll savor for a while - at least until the next storm!

10/26 Race Point, Provincetown
From: Blair Nikula
Date: 26 Oct 2002 5:45pm There was a modest number of seabirds moving past the Race Point parking lot in P'town this morning. Winds were initially rather light out of the SE (10+ mph) but increased to 30+ mph by noon, with intermittent rain. From 0750 - 0935 & 0955 - 1240 (4.5 hours total) I recorded: 6 Red-throated Loons 22 Common Loons 2 Northern Fulmars 850 Greater Shearwaters (about half in one 20 minute burst around 10:00 - 10:20; all birds were flying east to west until about 11:00, then mostly west to east thereafter.) 200 large shearwater sp. 600 N. Gannets 3 Pomarine Jaegers 1 Parasitic Jaeger 12 jaeger sp (most probably Pomarine) 7 Bonaparte's Gulls 105 Black-legged Kittiwakes 12+ Common Terns 8+ Forster's Terns 1 Razorbill 1 large alcid sp. Herring Cove: 150 N. Gannets 1 Pomarine Jaeger 2 Bonaparte's Gulls 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull (ad.) 2 Common Terns

10/26 Andrew's Pt., Rockport
Report from Richard Heil
(0700-1145 hrs.) Seawatch Weather: Overcast, ESE 15-30 mph, rain, 50F. Red-throated Loon (44) Common Loon (31) Horned Grebe (3) Northern Fulmar (1 lt.) Greater Shearwater (1) Northern Gannet (4550) Great Cormorant (8) Double-crested Cormorant (9) Am. Black Duck (6) Green-winged Teal (1) Greater Scaup (35) Common Eider (680) Harlequin Duck (22) Surf Scoter (1010) White-winged Scoter (215) Black Scoter (505) Oldsquaw (177) Red-breasted Merganser (365) Pomarine Jaeger (4 ads.) Parasitic Jaeger (1 juv.) jaeger sp. (2) Laughing Gull (77): 59 ads., 18-1W; New high count. Bonaparte's Gull (5-1W) Ring-billed Gull (14) Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake (115): 92 ads., 23-1W. THICK-BILLED MURRE (1): Early record. Razorbill (14) Black Guillemot (3) NOTE: Tom Pirro stayed for the afternoon (I had to leave) and reported that the pelagic flight picked up considerably in the afternoon. Mostly after 2:00 PM he had 119 N. Fulmar (7 dark and one apparent albino), several hundred Greater Shearwaters, and 37 jaegers.

10/17 First Encounter Beach, Eastham
From: PETE FLOOD
Blair Nikula and I spent a couple of hours watching a rather uneventful seabird show at First Encounter. There were however, some decent numbers of jaegers around which essentially saved the day. From 700-0900 we saw: Northern Gannet (120) Pomarine Jaeger (27+) Parasitic Jaeger (1+) Jaeger sp. (15) Black-legged Kittiwake (45) Common Tern (850)

10/16 Race Point Provincetown
From: PETE FLOOD
I spent (0730-1430) at Race Point parking lot scoping the ocean in very strong east - southeast winds. This was a whole lot of effort for very little results. Not much in the way of diversity and numbers were unimpressive. The driving rain made for some very poor visibility at times along with people's knack for parking in front of my vantage point throughout the day. Here is what I had: Red-throated loon (3) Common Loon (12) Northern Fulmar (2) both light Greater Shearwater (60) Large shearwater sp. (11) Leach's Storm-Petrel (1) Northern Gannet (272) Common Eider (95) Black Scoter (2) Surf Scoter (135) White-winged Scoter (30) Red-breasted Merganser (12) Laughing Gull (7) Black-legged Kittiwake (22) Common Tern (20) Forster's Tern (6) No alcids and no jaegers. At least not while I was looking.

10/16 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport
From: Richard Heil
(0630-1630 hrs.) Weather: Overcast, rain, E 20-45 mph, 55 F. Red-throated Loon (91) Common Loon (69) Red-necked Grebe (5) Northern Fulmar (830): Of this total 74 (9%) were dark morph. This is more than double the usual percentage of these generally more northerly breeders. The total of 830 was more than three times the previous high. The peak of the flight was in the afternoon when they were streaming by in binocular view off the point. Greater Shearwater (620) Manx Shearwater (4) Sooty Shearwater (3) Leach's Storm-Petrel (1) Northern Gannet (560) Great Cormorant (18) Double-crested Cormorant (22) Green-winged Teal (5) Greater Scaup (2) Common Eider (280) Surf Scoter (2460) White-winged Scoter (1520): New high count. Black Scoter (1270): Third highest count. Oldsquaw (62) Red-breasted Merganser (256) Pomarine Jaeger (10): Incl. 4 lt. adults, two w/"tails", and 2 dk. morphs. Parasitic Jaeger (3): All light adults. jaeger sp. (2) Laughing Gull (7; 6 ads. 1-juv.) Bonaparte's Gull (3) Ring-billed Gull (5) Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake (157): 103 ads., 54-1W. Common Tern (2; 1ad., 1 juv.) Razorbill (7) Atlantic Puffin (16): No repeat of Saturdays triple digit flight, but still remarkable.

Subject: 10/14First Encounter Beach
From: Blair Nikula
Date: 14 Oct 2002 5:31pm I spent the morning eating sand at First Encounter Beach along with several others, including Peter Flood, Jeremiah Trimble, and Peter Trimble. There was a decent variety but generally low numbers of most things. Winds were NW @ 20-35mph. From 0700 - 1200 I recorded: 1 PACIFIC LOON (breeding plumage - spotted and identified by Jeremiah) 2 Red-necked Grebes 2 Cory's Shearwaters 25 Greater Shearwaters 1 Manx Shearwater 20 large shearwater sp. 3 Wilson's Storm-Petrels 3 Leach's Storm-Petrels 5 storm-petrel sp. (man, it's tough identifying these things in a strong wind - flight characteristics are pretty much useless when they're bucking a gale!) 1200 N. Gannets 2 Pomarine Jaegers 5 jaeger sp. 1 Little Gull (2W) 5 Bonaparte's Gulls 17 Black-legged Kittiwakes 730 Common Terns 12 Forster's Terns 2 large alcid sp.

10/13: Race Point-Provincetown
Report from Peter Flood
I spent 0745-1100 scoping seabirds from the parking lot at race point as were many others. Wind had slacked of a bit from yesterday and was more from the north/northeast today. Here is what I had: Red-throated loon (1) Common Loon (2) Northern Fulmar (11) all light Greater Shearwater (182) Manx Shearwater (3) Leach's Storm Petrel (2) Northern Gannet (108) similar % among age classes that Blair and Glenn reported Common Eider (13) Surf Scoter (19) White-winged Scoter (8) Red-breasted Merganser (6) Pomarine Jaeger (2) light adults Jaeger sp. (1) Bonaparte's Gull (1) Black-legged Kittiwake (8) ad (5) juv Common Tern (3) Forster's Tern (1) Sterna sp. (130) large flock too far to I.D. Probably mixed Forster's and Commons. Razorbill (3) Also had a possible Pacific Loon. I caught a quick look before it was lost in a wave trough. Just a heads up.

10/13 Halibut Point
Report From Jim Berry
Date: 13 Oct 2002 1:57pm Not being averse to a puffin fix, I spent 4 hours at Halibut Pt., Rockport, 0730-1130. The last 90 minutes or so I joined up with Jane Lawrence and Steve Mirick, who had been watching from another part of the point. Despite the continued NE wind, with fog and drizzle to boot from about 0945, alcids were largely absent this morning, as were kittiwakes and shearwaters, while jaegers were entirely absent. The gannets put on a diving exhibition close to shore late in the morning, but most of the birds were "routine." If alcids were going by, they were too far out to see with the limited visibility. red-thr. loon 6 common loon an even 100 greater shearwater 13 n. gannet ~600 (all ages, but i didn't keep track) d-c cormorant ~150 great cormorant 7 common eider 350 harlequin duck 2 surf scoter 345 w-w scoter 280 black scoter 80 long-tailed duck 1 red-breasted merganser 140 peregrine falcon 1 (flew out from the point, over the water to the green AHP bouy, and on out to sea in the fog) laughing gull 17 (about half adult and half juv.) bonaparte's gull 4 black-legged kittiwake 7 razorbill 1 (the only alcid close enough to i.d.) alcid sp. 10

10/13 - Sandy Neck, Barnstable
Report From Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll
We seawatched from Sandy Neck from 8AM till almost noon this morning, joined half-way through by Val Miller and at the end by Wayne Peterson and Betty. Very first thing in the morning the winds were still a bit breezy from the NE and there was a modest movement of birds heading east. For the last hour and a half, flocks of gannets and scoters were seen heading west, and these birds were not counted. By then, the wind had diminished considerably and it was actually quite pleasant. It is interesting to compare this list with Jim Berry's. Red-throated Loon (21) Common Loon (93) N. Fulmar (6 light) Greater Shearwater (3) Sooty Shearwater (2) Leach's Storm Petrel (4: great views) N. Gannet (984: very few full adults) Great Comrorant (7) Double-crested Cormorant (118) Greater Scaup (1m) Common Eider (70) Long-tailed Duck (3) Black Scoter (76) Surf Scoter (545) White-winged Scoter (315) Red-breasted Merganser (124) N. Harrier (1m) Peregrine Falcon (2 diff. imm) Sanderling (55) Red Phalarope (2: landed in the water a few times) Pomarine Jaeger (4) Parasitic Jaeger (5) Laughing Gull (107) Black-legged Kittiwake (2 1stW) "large alcid sp." (1) American Robin (375: huge flocks working the dunes)

10/13 Cape Cod
From: Blair Nikula
Date: 13 Oct 2002 5:11pm Under rather benign weather conditions, I (and a number of others) spent three hours at First Encounter Beach in Eastham this morning and four hours at Race Point in Provincetown this afternoon, recording a nice variety, though for the most part unimpressive number of seabirds. At First Encounter (0720 - 1030): 30+ Common Loons 900 N. Gannets 1 Peregrine Falcon 2 Pomarine Jaegers 12 Parasitic Jaegers 2 jaeger sp. 200 Laughing Gulls 5 Black-legged Kittiwakes 3300+ Common Terns (all flying south towards Orleans; over the past week or two, I've been struck by the near absence of terns in both Chatham and Provincetown, so the appearance of such a large number in Cape Cod Bay was a surprise.) 40+ Forster's Terns 1 Black Tern 4 Atlantic Puffins 2 Am. Pipits At Race Point (1120 - 1530; must have arrived just after Peter Flood left): 44 N. Fulmars (13 dark - an unusually high percentage) 65 Greater Shearwaters 1 Manx Shearwater 50 Leach's Storm-Petrels (the only bird that increased in number as the day wore on.) 190 N. Gannets 2 Pomarine Jaegers 16 Black-legged Kittiwakes 56 Common Terns 4 Forster's Terns 9 Atlantic Puffins (nice to see that they don't ALL fall off the face of the Earth once they pass Cape Ann!) (In my post yesterday about Provincetown birds, I neglected to mention the rarest sight of the day, a breaching Minke Whale!)

10/12 - Andrew's Point seawatch
Report from Richard Heil
(0630-1515 hrs.)
Weather: Overcast, ENE 10-30 mph, mostly dry, occasional mist, 57 F. Richard S. Heil & Jeremiah Trimble
Red-throated Loon (22) PACIFIC LOON (1 alternate adult): Spotted by JT, passed closely by the point and was well seen by both observers. In full breeding plumage, migrating NW to SE like the other loons. The second migrant PALO here in ten days! Common Loon (89) Northern Fulmar (62): All light morph except one dark. Greater Shearwater (520) Sooty Shearwater (8) Manx Shearwater (6) Leach’s Storm-Petrel (4) Northern Gannet (800) Great Cormorant (4) Double-crested Cormorant (75) Green-winged Teal (3) Greater Scaup (2m.) Common Eider (655) Harlequin Duck (1f.) Surf Scoter (527) White-winged Scoter (213) Black Scoter (127) Oldsquaw (7) Red-breasted Merganser (20) Pomarine Jaeger (9): At least 5 were lt. morph adults with “tails” Parasitic Jaeger (1 lt. adult) jaeger sp. (3) Laughing Gull (27; 17 ads., 10 juvs.) Little Gull (1-1W) Bonaparte’s Gull (23) Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake (50; 39 ads., 11 juvs.) Common/Arctic Tern (4) Razorbill (5) Atlantic Puffin (104): Mind-blowing! All day long singles, doubles, and even flocks of 4-6 passed the point. Many (15+) passed close enough to age and all of these appeared to be juveniles. Nothing close to this order of magnitude has previously been reported from Massachusetts, either from shore or at sea. Even distant birds are readily identified by their small size, compact shape (vs. more elongated bodies of Razorbills and murres), all dark underwings, and dusky flanks. On closer birds the large head with a gray face patch, narrow black collar, and large triangular bills were readily discernable. Puffins have been consistently on the increase here over the past several years, particularly in late summer, when my prior high count was of nine on 20 August 2002. alcid sp. (3)

9/28/02 Andrew's Pt., Rockport Seawatch
Report from Richard Heil
(0620-1300 hrs.)
Weather: Overcast until 0830, then mostly clear; NNW winds 10-25 mph, 55-60 Amazing and unprecedented numbers of Greater Shearwaters are present in the waters north of Cape Ann, including Ipswich Bay. At first light I estimated some 10,000+ mostly distant birds stretching across the entire seascape horizon from Andrew’s Point. However, shortly thereafter they began to parade past, at first only moderately so, but by 0700 an intense and steady stream of shearwaters was passing ESE by the point. Numerous one minute counts throughout the morning ranged between 150-250 shearwaters PER MINUTE (averaging about 200/min.) passing a sight line to Mount Agamenticus in southern Maine, clearly in view to the north. Visibility was perfect and I could easily count shearwaters probably several miles distant with my scope, from my position, although very many were also passing by within several hundred meters as well. I stopped counting at 0915, although there were still many, many thousands still in view across the horizon and still behind the “count line” because I began to detect numbers of birds moving back to the west farther out. Even though some 27,000 shearwaters had passed my position, the numbers still to the west looked to my eyes completely undiminished. The next few hours featured birds moving in all directions, but with masses still constantly present, along with a continuous moderate stream passing closely by the point. Around 1030-1100 strong directional movements ceased and enormous foraging congregations began to form in various scattered locations. One single such feeding frenzy stretched for about a half-mile in length and was comprised of an estimated 2000 Greater Shearwaters, along with perhaps two hundred plunge-diving Gannets and five hundred large gulls. At one time there were at least a half-dozen similar, though slightly smaller, foraging congregations in view. These birds were all very actively feeding, presumably on massive schools of young Herring, which have been reported by fishing boats in area waters. Also observed among these frenzies were literally hundreds of large predatory tuna, also after the Herring, breaking the surface and even jumping clear of the water, sometimes three or four at a time, among the masses of seabirds.
Whales are infrequently seen from Andrew’s Point, but this morning at least three Humbacks (one full breach), five Fin Whales, and a single Minke were also taking advantage of the largesse.
Common Loon (22), Northern Fulmar (1-lt. morph), Cory’s Shearwater (18), Greater Shearwater (35,000+): Previous high was 6150 on 11/3/99, Sooty Shearwater (42), Manx Shearwater (50), Northern Gannet (2200): Previous Sep. high was 1230 on 9/30/99, Double-crested Cormorant (65), Great Cormorant (17), Common Eider (44), Surf Scoter (21), White-winged Scoter (20), Black Scoter (4), Pomarine Jaeger (4): Incl. 2 lt. morph ads, Parasitic Jaeger (1 dk. adult), jaeger sp. (2), Laughing Gull (13; 1ad., 12 juvs.), Bonaparte’s Gull (5 juvs.), Ring-billed Gull (30+), Herring Gull (5000), Great Black-backed Gull (500), Black-legged Kittiwake (2 ads.), Common Tern (130).

9/27/02 Andrew's Pt., Rockport Seawatch
Report from Richard Heil
Weather: Overcast, NE 10-20 mph, 60’s.
Common Loon (21), Northern Fulmar (1)-lt. morph,. Greater Shearwater (2850): Second highest count ever and the only count over 2000 prior to November., Sooty Shearwater (6), Manx Shearwater (1), Northern Gannet (52), Great Cormorant (3), Double-crested Cormorant (13), Am. Black Duck (1), Northern Pintail (1), Common Eider (71): 90% ad. males, Surf Scoter (14), White-winged Scoter (45), Black Scoter (7), Pomarine Jaeger (3): one dark morph. jaeger sp,. (1) Laughing Gull (9; 1ad., 8 juvs.),Ring-billed Gull (2), Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake (1ad.)

9/24/02 - Shearwater extravaganza off Plum Island
Repot from Jim Berry
About 11:15 from the platform at lot 1, just inside the gate, as the wind was from the north or north-northeast and the weather was raw. Bingo. The sky was full of shearwaters--THOUSANDS of them. At first they were all half a mile or more offshore, heading generally southward, but before long many of them turned and headed north, closer in. This is when I could verify that they were almost all greater shearwaters. I could not find any sooties or cory's among them, but at least 3 MANX came in fairly close and considerately flew with the greaters so I could make easy comparisons. It is hard enough estimating the number of birds in a large flock, but estimating shearwaters when they are not moving by a fixed point, but instead milling around in all directions, is impossible. Judging by the number of birds I could see in the air at once, from north to east to southeast as far as I could see, it was clear that there were easily thousands of them. Hundreds were always visible at any given time, and of course they were all moving. I thus estimated that there were at least 2000 shearwaters, perhaps several times that many. This was the largest number of shearwaters I have ever seen in the Atlantic, with the possible exception of one whale-watch some years back when I counted about 2500 greaters and sooties combined on Stellwagen Bank. But again, the number of greaters today could have far exceeded that number. Unless somebody is lucky enough to be out on a boat today and counting them (or, more likely, barfing on them), we will never know how many. Scoters still do not seem to be moving: I saw only 17 white-wings, 10 surfs, and 4 dark-wings in 75 minutes. Also 100+ gannets, 3 common loons, and about 60 im. bonaparte's gulls, the latter up closer to the jetties.

9/12/02 - Red-necked Phalarope at Plum I.
Report from Jim Berry
I went to Plum I. at 4 p.m. and met up with the MacDougalls, Rick Heil, and a few others at Bill Forward Pool to look at shorebirds. We didn't find any fancy Asian ones--in fact, most of them were at the south end of the pool where we could hardly see them--but a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, very dark on the back and crown with the typical rusty streaking on the back, was very close to us at times at the north end of the pool. We saw it in flight a few times and could see that it did not have a white rump. Also, the bill was too short for a wilson's (and too thin and black for a red).

9/12/02 - First Encounter Beach
Report from Blair Nikula
I spent a little over an hour eating wind-blown sand at First Encounter Beach in Eastham (at the end of Samoset Road, Town of Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States of America, Planet Earth; 41.49.17N, 70.00.15W) early this morning and saw a few seabirds in the wake of Gustav's passage well offshore.
From 0615 - 0730: 2 Common Loons, 8 Cory's Shearwaters, 15 large shearwater sp., 4+ small shearwater sp. (I think a couple of these, based upon flight pattern, may have been Audubon's, but they were much too distant to get anything else on them.) 10 N. Gannets, 7 Red-necked Phalaropes, 1 Red Phalarope, 1 Parasitic Jaeger, 9 jaeger sp. (most very distant), 250 Common Terns, 1 Forster's Tern

9/5 - Sabine's Gull Eastham
Report from Jennifer Hanson
From 11:45 to 12:22 yesterday morning I had an adult Sabine's Gull at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham. It spent most of its time sitting on the water and was easy to lose track of in the swells, but I did see it fly several times and was also able to study it while it sat on the water. I have seen Sabine's Gull before in NJ, so that was my immediate reaction on seeing the wing pattern, and longer study confirmed it. From the staircase down to the beach, walk north on the beach until you see a small sign atop the bluff. It was a little farther north of this sign that I was sitting on the beach and scoping the ocean. Since it will be a nice day, parking will probably be at a premium, especially later in the day. When I left yesterday, the Sabine's was still sitting on the water. It may well be the same one that was seen earlier in the week at Chatham.

9/2 - Sabine's gull-Chatham
Report from Steve Leonard
To give proper credit, Russ Titus was first to call the Sabine's as it passed by very close and then landed. Unfortunately it didn't stay as it was put up within a few minutes and not refound.

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD photos
9/1 - Harwich
Repot from Barbara Volkle
A mature female Magnificent Frigatebird was seen in Harwich, Cape Cod, MA at approximately 4:45 PM, Sept. 1, 2002. The sighting was by Mike and Toby Gooley. The bird was headed east along Route 28 from Harwich headed toward Chatham. Thanks to Mike and Toby Gooley, Morton Brown and Laurie Larson for passing along this report.
9/2 - Chatham
Report from Blair Nikula
The female MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD was present all this morning in Chatham. It was originally seen over the USF&WS parking lot on Morris Island at 6:30 this morning and then drifted over in front of Winty Harrington's House. Later, it spent some time chasing terns and gulls over the inlet in front of Chatham Light (Bob Clem got video footage of it stealing a foot long fish from a Grt. Black-backed Gull!). It then spent at least an hour just hanging in the updrafts over the Chatham Light parking lot, entertaining scores of tourists (and a few birders)! It was still hanging there when I left at 11:00 a.m.
Report from Blair Nikula
After my last post, I returned the Chatham Light, arriving about 12:15, and the Magnificent Frigatebird was still hanging over the parking lot. Peter Flood was there and said that the bird was not present when he arrived about 20 minutes earlier, but that it reappeared at 12:10. We watched it until 1:00 pm., at which point it flew northwest (toward downtown Chatham) and disappeared. As of 2:00 pm., when I left, it had not reappeared. By that time, the weather had deteriorated considerably, the intermittent, light morning showers having turned into a steady, soaking rain. I checked to make sure the bird was not something more exotic than a Magnificent (e.g., Lesser or Great frigatebirds) and it does indeed seem to be "just" a Magnificent. I would not be surprised if the bird reappeared before the day is over. Then again, it could be at Cape Ann by now.
9/2 - Orleans
Report from Ginie Page
After giving up on the bird at Chatham, I headed home via Rte. 28 toward Orleans. Near the bridge marked mile 4.71, the bird was hanging gracefully in the air in spite of the pouring rain. It drifted off SSW
9/2 - Frigatebird redux
Report from: Blair Nikula
After seeing Ginnie Page's earlier post, I headed over the the area she described (which is on the northwest corner of Pleasant Bay in S.Orleans, just north of the intersection of Rte. 28 and Tar Kiln Road). I arrived at 4:30 to find the bird still hanging there (2 hours later!), up quite high, perhaps 1/2 mile to the south. Thinking there might be some birders looking for the bird at Chatham Light or Morris Island, I drove down to check but saw no one, and headed back north up Rte. 28. I pulled off at the intersection with Bay Road in E.Harwich (the southwest corner of Pleasant Bay) and almost immediately spotted the bird way off to the north, still hanging in the same spot. I continued to the S.Orleans pull-off and sure enough, the bird was still hanging in the same spot (almost directly over the intersection of Rte. 28 and Evelyn Road). I left it there at 5:05 pm., having seen it in three different towns today (Chatham, Harwich, & Orleans)! This bird's ability - and apparent proclivity - to hang almost motionless for hours at a time is amazing. I've always found it hard to believe accounts of these birds actually sleeping on the wing - now I believe!
9/3 - Chatham
Report from Steve Grinley
Dennis Peacock just called to report the Magnificent Frigatebird at Chatham Light at 10:05 this morning. He said tourists were watching the bird hang above in the fog when he pulled into the parking lot. He said it was very foggy but the bird should be visible once the weather clears a bit.
9/3 - Chatham
Report from Joseph Paluzzi
Massbirders, I spent from 1230-500pm in the Chatham-Orleans area without refinding the subject bird. At 515pm a local clammer stopped by the Chatham Lighthouse and told our group the Frigatebird had spent a good part of the morning working Mill Pond. This pond is 1/4 mile behind the lighthouse and can be seen inland on the left as one crosses over the little bridge on Bridge Street heading towards the lighthouse. It is also accessible from Homestead St off Main street. We scurried over there to no avail, but some tourists said they had seen a huge strange looking bird working the pond earlier. I am not sure how much credence can be given to those second hand reports, but anyone trying tomorrow may want to check it out.
9/4 - Hyannis
Report from Peter Flood
Frigatebird WAS seen in Hyannis. I just received a bit of confirmation on the Frigatebird sighting in Hyannis. Apparently it was seen just north of Hyannis Harbor and west of Lewis Bay over a small pond (name not given). The bird was seen sometime after 2 P.M. where it cirlcled a bit over the pond then drifted west towards Hyannisport and then returned. When it left a second time, the direction in which it took was not indicated. This is all I have. I guess it could be anywhere at this point.

9/1 - Andrews Point 9:45 to 11:30
Report from Barbara Volkle
We birded Andrews Point in Rockport this morning from 9:45 to 11:30am and saw: Parasitic Jaeger - 1 Laughing Gull - 2 Wilson's Storm-petrel - 26 Greater Shearwater - 50 - 70 (far offshore) Northern Gannet - 42.

9/1 - Andrews Point 11-1pm
Report from Fred Bouchard
Best birds were: Greater Shearwater, 145 (moving NW-SE in sporadic, single file, MOSTLY 3/4 TO HORIZON, BUT SOME VEERED IN CLOSER) Manx Shearwater, 2 (moving across GRSH path, due E) Wilson’s Storm-petrel, 110 (circling and feeding 1/2 way to horizon) Fly-bys: C Loon, C Tern (5), B Scoter (2), N Gannet (8 im), Bonaparte's Gull (2), odd-marked gull, possibly Kittiwake or Sabine's.

9/1 - Andrew's Point 3:30 and 4
Report from Steve Leonard
The shearwaters that were far offshore this morning had moved in somewhat closer this afternoon (as had the marauding school of bluefish) Between 3:30 and 4 I was able to pick 3 Manx Shearwaters out of the large numbers of Greaters. Two juvenile jaegers put on a pretty good display chasing terns - they were very dark and heavy bodied,broadwinged - probably Pomarine, but I'll leave them as jaeger sp.Too far out to see detail.